According to 9to5Mac‘s source within Best Buy, the Apple TV is vanishing from all of their stores. Apparently the source’s store’s stock is depleting rapidly and new units are not being shipped out to any stores. This is very strange too since the product is in stock on Best Buy’s online store, though Amazon’s stock level is telling a different story; the online shopping hub is currently showing that Apple TVs will not ship for 2-5 weeks, further indicating that Apple may no longer be manufacturing the boxes…

It is believed that this is the beginning of the end for the Apple TV 2 as the Cupertino-based manufacturer could possibly plan to refresh the product line during next month’s iPad 3 event. While this is just speculation that’s based on the aforementioned facts, it is possible that Apple could refresh the little TV box soon. Here’s what 9to5Mac’s source says about Best Buy’s Apple TV stock:

A customer was inquiring tonight about Apple TV. However right now we are out of stock (Which hasn’t happened since I started). Not only were we out of stock, but also I was also unable to order one from our product ordering system (OMS). Product was listed as “currently unavailable”. From prior experience, this usually is associated with a product that is being “discontinued”.

9to5Mac also notes that the Apple TV is gone from Walmart, out of stock at Buy.com, and only available in stores from RadioShack. However, MacConnection, MacMall, and others still seem to have some units in stock — for the moment.

Update: One of our forum members who lives in Chicago called his local Best Buy and discovered that they were out of stock as well. Being as Chicago is such a large city, there’s no reason for a Best Buy there to be out of stock, so it’s very likely that Apple will be refreshing this product line soon.